In Which I Muse On A Gadget Study And Its Choice Of Test Material

Oh, what would Papa think, to be so used

As he was for this study of iPads

And Kindles verses paper books. Bemused,

I'd bet. Though I am sure that there are scads

Of writers who would be quite chuffed to learn

Their prose is "pleasant and engaging" yet

Not very difficult for dummies. Spurn

Ol' Hemingway I don't, but I would bet

I'd read a little faster were there stars

And aliens and spaceships in the place

Of something dull and literary, bars

And manly man crap. Give me outer space!

So many of us, forced to read him when

We were in school might sigh if asked again.

In Which I Tease @JeffKirvin A Bit On His Birthday

Poor Jeff, although I'm puzzled that he still
Seeks iPads after his adventures in
A-getting banned from Apple mecca. Will
He never find his happy place and win
His heart's desire? I really shouldn't kid
Him too much on his birthday, should I? Yet
I cannot help it (though I never did
Try all that hard). I hope he won't regret
This effort when he has his 16-G
Wi-Fi-enabled gadget, and he finds
The time for his capsacin fix ere he
Gets too discouraged as his journey winds
To its close, and he gets to have some fun.
I hope today winds up a happy one!

In Which I Muse On Expanded Sensoria

A prayerful silence often seems the norm

'Mongst strangers gathered publicly, it seems.

To each his own has never taken form

So powerfully as now; we watch our dreams

Played out before us on our jeejahs, each

According to his fondest wishes. We

Ignore each other, all but eschew speech

Though still we're talking; we don't hear but see

What's being said by others far from us,

Communing with our private worlds; our god,

Now customized, sits on our laps and thus

Absorbs us so, we smile and mutely nod

And look solipsists, but we are aware

Of more; not less. The world is is ours to share.

In Which I Share The Fruits Of An Afternoon's Nosy Questioning

It wasn't scientific; I just asked

Some friends online who had gone out and bought

The iPad Saturday just how, when tasked

To cough up the five hundred bucks -- a lot

For any gadget -- they paid up. I learned

That while ol' Mister Plastic took a kick

Right to the nuts, most of my friends have spurned

To pay out months of interest. The trick

Was saving up so they could buy, then pay

The company and earn reward points, too.

Still others used store plans. No one would say

They'd carry any balance. 'Tis a clue,

Perhaps, that these hard times have taught them well

To manage their resources. Time will tell.

In Which I Say Meh To A Fruity New Gadget

An iPad is not something that I need;

I have a Kindle and an iPod touch.

Between them I've more books than I can read,

And that's not counting paper ones, as such.

Within the App store I've found much that's fun

But don't see where they need a bigger screen

That weighs near two pounds and won't fit in one

Of my ass pockets (really, that's my scene:

The Kindle makes my shoulder bag so light

Compared to five or six big paperbacks,

And now the iPod Touch does too, fits right

And takes up even less space!). But relax

I will not be a hater and reserve

The right to change my mind, indeed to swerve.